Early in the year, the popular Reunion television programme – Zone Australe, aired a segment on the Seychelles islands produced by Serge Marizy that included the reserve.

This programme explained how saving the Seychelles warbler on Cousin saved other bird species by providing a sanctuary for endangered wildlife and the importance of the reserve for nature conservation.

It celebrated the regional collaboration found in initiatives on the reserve such as turtle monitoring with the Sea Turtle Observatory - Kelonia of Reunion, and seabird research with Laboratoire d’Ecologie Marine at the University of Reunion.

In May, a group of visiting filmmakers from South Africa arrived to shoot a documentary for the television programme 50/50 screened on the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC2). Their attention was on seabird research conducted on the island, the effect the Mapou tree (Pisonia grandis) is having on seabirds and the island’s carbon neutral status.

Nature Seychelles has been carrying out long-term monitoring of the impact of Pisonia on seabirds. The trees produce sticky seeds several times a year, which become entangled in the feathers of seabirds, preventing them from flying and finding food, and often resulting in their death. But while Pisonia seeds have such a negative impact, the tree also provides nesting sites for some seabirds and endemic birds, and is a source of insects for endemic birds. The first part of the programme - ‘Bird Eating Trees’ which explained this complex phenomenon and what is being done to manage it aired on the SABC2 on June 27.

The second instalment talks about the Cousin Island carbon initiative started in 2010 to reduce the island’s carbon footprint. The carbon offsetting programme is an on-going initiative that reassures visitors concerned about their footprint when they travel using long haul flights that they can come to Cousin with a clear conscience.

In April, popular media personality Varun Sharma of hit Television series ‘Inside Luxury Travel’ aired to millions worldwide, was on the island to film for his show. Despite arriving during mosquito season and being the recipient of quite a number of stings Sharma said of Cousin on his blog: “Cousin Island is a must see here on Praslin ... mozzies or not.”
“The media are our allies in conservation providing a window to what we do,” says Nirmal Shah, Nature Seychelles chief executive.

“It is critical that we make conservation everybody’s business and we have been very happy to host a diverse media broadcasting to a wide audience around the world,” he adds.

Nature Seychelles receives dozens of requests for professional photography and filming on the special reserve. “We are very receptive of filmmakers who want to promote conservation. We also use the films as an awareness tool,” says Liz Mwambui, Nature Seychelles’ communication manager.